Published by Welbeck Publishing UK
Publication Date 2nd February 2023
My thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read this title in exchange for my honest opinion
Book Description:
TWO WOMEN. ONE BABY. A FIGHT LIKE NO OTHER.
Katherine has everything under control.
After years of struggling to conceive with her partner, Patrick, she finally gives birth to Rose, her IVF miracle child. But she's afraid that Rose may not be her daughter, her pale skin not matching Katherine's own.
Tess never got her happy ending.
Just like Katherine, she was also a hopeful IVF mother, but her daughter, Hanna, was stillborn. Now divorced, broke and stuck in a dead-end job, she's beginning to lose all hope.
But when Rose is ten months old, both women get a call from the fertility clinic. There was a mistake: their eggs were switched.
It will take a custody battle like no other to decide who will get to be Rose's mother – a battle that will push them both to the brink...
This is a story about what it means to be a mother, and the lengths we go to for the people we love.
My Thoughts:
This is a really tricky book to review without sounding in any way judgmental. Katherine and Tess are from completely different social standings, not through any fault of their own - it's just how life pans out. Both women have needed IVF support to conceive a child, but their outcomes are poles apart.
To be in the position these families find themselves in when news of the switch becomes known is incomprehensible and I also felt strongly for the dad involved. In one way he is the only winner but to then have to support his wife, knowing that the baby she has carried and nurtured is still his but not hers must be tortuous. Our initial instinct is for the mums involved but what an awful position he also finds himself in.
The author covers the press intrusion and natural curiosity of close friends of the two women very well however I did feel that the whole story just skims the surface of what could potentially been a much deeper delve into everyone's reactions. There isn't much in the way of looking at the person who was responsible for the whole situation happening in the first place, that aspect feels very sketchy, and I feel the story could have gone deeper down that route to make the story more solid and maybe even more emotional if that could be possible.
Without giving spoilers, the conclusion of the book was pleasing, and I feel any alternative would have been very disappointing. I admire the author for tackling such a sensitive issue but personally I think it could have had more potential with a few more tweaks.
About the Author:
Charlene Carr is the youngest of four children and the only girl. Living in a house full of boys taught her to fight for what she wants and to always reach higher (you have to when everyone in your family towers above you).
She spent much of her childhood creating elaborate, multi-faceted storylines for her dolls and reading under the blankets with a flashlight when she was supposed to be asleep.
A bit of a nomad, she’s lived in four countries and seven Canadian provinces. After travelling the globe for several years and working an array of mostly writing related jobs, she decided the time had come to focus exclusively on her true love—crafting stories.
Charlene is a novelist and stay-at-home mom: her two dream jobs. She lives in Nova Scotia, Canada and loves exploring the coastline of her harbour town with her husband and young daughter.
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